Page 128 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Leap of Faith Journey of Indian Elections

The elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Himachal
Pradesh and Gujarat were held in November and
December, 2017 respectively - both during the brief
tenure of Achal Kumar Joti.
On January 23, 2018 Om Prakash Rawat assumed charge
as the 22ⁿ Chief Election Commissioner. On the eve of 8
National Voters' Day, an international conference on
theme ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the
Election Process’ was hosted. The Election Commission
adopted ‘Accessible Elections’ as the theme for the year.
The potential of the subject was explored on ground
level. A series of district and state level workshops were
organised over three months to maximise the electoral
participation of People with Disabilities (PwD). The
process culminated in a two-day national level
consultation on accessible elections in New Delhi on July
CEC Dr. Nasim Zaidi addressing a conference at the ECI Headquarters
2-3, 2018.
The participants resolved to establish the Global On December 2, 2018 Sunil Arora took over as the 23
Knowledge Network on Voter Education- VoICE.Net. Chief Election Commissioner of India. The most important
event during his tenure was the Seventeenth Lok Sabha
Dr. Nasim Zaidi favoured comprehensive review of the
Representation of the People Acts, 1950 and 1951. In
December, 2016, Election Commission published a
document titled Proposed Electoral Reforms in which its
recommendations for electoral reforms pending with the
government were presented in a systematised manner.

st
On July 6, 2017 Achal Kumar Joti took over as the 21
Chief Election Commissioner of India. While assuming
office he emphasised inter alia on Election Commission's
mission of ‘No Voter to be Left Behind’ and active
promotion of e-governance for Parliamentary and state
assembly elections. He successfully completed the 15
Presidential elections, for which notification had already
been issued, and thereafter also conducted the 15 Vice
Presidential elections that were due in August, 2017. CEC A. K. Joti announcing Assembly Elections to Meghalaya, Nagaland
and Tripura in January 2018

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